Haj Camp 2015 concludes as 5452 pilgrims reach Holy Mecca

With the departure of 16th and last batch of pilgrims, the seven-day long Haj Camp 2015 came to a conclusion at Haj House in Nampally here on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference at Haj House here, Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali informed that 5,436 pilgrims left for Haj through 16 chartered flights from 2nd September onwards. In addition, 16 pilgrims from Waiting List left for Holy Mecca through regular flights. The pilgrims included 2,964 from Telangana, 1819 from Andhra Pradesh and 654 from four neighbouring districts of Karnataka. The Wuqoof-e-Arafat will be on 23rd September. After performing Haj, the pilgrims will return home from 14th to 20th October.

The Deputy CM said that this year 569 pilgrims got free accommodation in Rubats. Efforts are on to increase this number to 1,000 next year. Further, he said initiative would be taken to restore 10-12 Hyderabadi Rubats which would ensure free accommodation in Holy Mecca to all pilgrims of Telangana State. Informing that he would be visiting Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after Haj season to pursue the matter, he said, if required, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao himself would visit Jeddah to take up the matter with the Saudi authorities.

Mahmood Ali admitted that some pilgrims faced difficulties during this Haj camp as nearly 2200 pilgrims were forced to stay in the camp as against the capacity of 1500. This was due to busy schedule of three daily flights. He said elaborate arrangements would be made next year and an adjacent building of Haj House would also be used for accommodating pilgrims from next year.

The Deputy thanked all 22 Departments including Customs, Air India, CISF, RGIA, RTC, etc., for their cooperation in successful conduct of Haj Camp.